Personal development discussions are vital for helping individuals to feel valued and to encourage them to stay with an organisation for longer. Conduct personal development discussions on a 1-2-1 basis to understand your team members’ aspirations and goals. Here are some questions you may want to use:
- What are your career goals?
- Are there any future roles within the organisation that you’d like to progress to?
- What are your strengths, how could you use them more?
- Have you identified any skills which would help you in the future?
- What support do you need from your manager or the organisation to help you realise your potential?
- What further learning or training would be useful for you?
- What reading, videos, webinars or other content is available to help your learning?
Use the table below to capture development needs and activity planned:
| Goal | Activity required | Deadline | Completed |
| e.g. Lead meetings | Learn how to chair a team meeting, agree actions & follow up with the team | March 2019 | In progress |
While line managers should help employees to create their plan, each individual should then take ownership of their personal development plan and provide regular updates during their 1-2-1s.
Ensure you regularly update them with any new learning opportunities available and help them take on new challenges that fit with their development goals.
Activities to support personal development
Personal development should be tailored and specific for the goals of that individual. As a line manager, they will look to you to help them understand ways in which they can develop. This table illustrates examples of activities that may be useful to individuals:
| Activities for development | When to use them |
| Mentoring A fantastic way to learn from a role model outside of the day job, that will add an outside perspective |
The individual needs help crafting their career path, or an independent voice to help share their thoughts/ideas. Many people utilise mentors to overcome challenges or adversity faced |
| Buddying
A great way to develop through peer-peer support |
For use from two perspectives; upskilling junior employees and helping them feel part of your culture; and giving a leadership/coaching opportunity to more senior team members |
| Development hours/work shadowing
Spending time with a department/team/specific role to improve understanding |
The individual has an interest in that business area/role, but is not entirely sure what the day-to-day is comprised of |
| Skills-based development e.g.
Communication: Charing team meetings, writing team briefing emails, presentation skills training Leadership/managing others: Buddying a junior member of the team to improve in a specific area, deputising as manager Time management: Using a priority matrix, organisational tasks – calendar management, to-do lists |
When skills gaps are identified, focusing the individual on activities to build that skill specifically You may identify other skill gaps not shown here, so you’ll have to be creative using the resources and tools you have access to: Internet search, Google Scholar, TED talks, YouTube and by asking colleagues. Ensure that the individual also seeks opportunities for their development as only they can truly drive their personal development |
| Educational qualifications
Depending on the level and type of qualification, a simple internet search will return options available – including lots of online content that may be free to access |
The individual needs to gain an educational qualification to enable their development or next career move e.g. an accounting qualification |
| Professional certificates/membership
Align to the professional body that gives the best return on investment for that individual. Think about learning opportunities and what responsibilities members have Individuals benefit from the resources that the professional body hosts – from reading materials, webinars and videos through to events, mentoring and networking opportunities |
There are bodies that the individual should align to as a professional from a certain industry or skill type
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